Friday, February 26, 2016
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
The Pope's Wall And Immigration
Published on Feb 20, 2016
The
Pope made news recently when he claimed someone interested in a
security wall, could not be a Christian, apparently forgetting that the
Pope in the 9th Century did precisely that, and his wall was even
expanded and fortified in the 12th century. Catholic "Spin doctors" have
hit the internet declaring the comparison invalid (because anyone can
"buy tickets" to get in). The comparison was much more valid than
anyone on TV would ever dare admit in public, not because of the
Vatican's wall, but because of what goes on inside them. Anyone who
would like to use the Pope as political leverage to get a vote, should
have to be confronted with and face, what goes on inside those Vatican
walls.(That is a threat to American sovereignty)
The US Economy Has Not Recovered and Will Not Recover
Paul Craig Roberts February 17, 2016
The US economy died when middle class jobs were offshored and when the financial system was deregulated.
Jobs offshoring benefitted Wall Street, corporate executives, and
shareholders, because lower labor and compliance costs resulted in
higher profits. These profits flowed through to shareholders in the form
of capital gains and to executives in the form of “performance
bonuses.” Wall Street benefitted from the bull market generated by
higher profits.
However, jobs offshoring also offshored US GDP and consumer
purchasing power. Despite promises of a “New Economy” and better jobs,
the replacement jobs have been increasingly part-time, lowly-paid jobs
in domestic services, such as retail clerks, waitresses and bartenders.
The offshoring of US manufacturing and professional service jobs to
Asia stopped the growth of consumer demand in the US, decimated the
middle class, and left insufficient employment for college graduates to
be able to service their student loans. The ladders of upward mobility
that had made the United States an “opportunity society” were taken down
in the interest of higher short-term profits.
Without growth in consumer incomes to drive the economy, the Federal
Reserve under Alan Greenspan substituted the growth in consumer debt to
take the place of the missing growth in consumer income. Under the
Greenspan regime, Americans’ stagnant and declining incomes were
augmented with the ability to spend on credit. One source of this credit
was the rise in housing prices that the Federal Reserves low inerest
rate policy made possible. Consumers could refinance their now
higher-valued home at lower interest rates and take out the “equity” and
spend it.
The debt expansion, tied heavily to housing mortgages, came to a halt
when the fraud perpetrated by a deregulated financial system crashed
the real estate and stock markets. The bailout of the guilty imposed
further costs on the very people that the guilty had victimized.
Under Fed chairman Bernanke the economy was kept going with
Quantitative Easing, a massive increase in the money supply in order to
bail out the “banks too big to fail.” Liquidity supplied by the Federal
Reserve found its way into stock and bond prices and made those invested
in these financial instruments richer. Corporate executives helped to
boost the stock market by using the companies’ profits and by taking out
loans in order to buy back the companies’ stocks, thus further
expanding debt.
Those few benefitting from inflated financial asset prices produced
by Quantitative Easing and buy-backs are a much smaller percentage of
the population than was affected by the Greenspan consumer credit
expansion. A relatively few rich people are an insufficient number to
drive the economy.
The Federal Reserve’s zero interest rate policy was designed to
support the balance sheets of the mega-banks and denied Americans
interest income on their savings. This policy decreased the incomes of
retirees and forced the elderly to reduce their consumption and/or draw
down their savings more rapidly, leaving no safety net for heirs.
Using the smoke and mirrors of under-reported inflation and
unemployment, the US government kept alive the appearance of economic
recovery. Foreigners fooled by the deception continue to support the US
dollar by holding US financial instruments.
The official inflation measures were “reformed” during the Clinton
era in order to dramatically understate inflation. The measures do this
in two ways. One way is to discard from the weighted basket of goods
that comprises the inflation index those goods whose price rises. In
their place, inferior lower-priced goods are substituted.
For example, if the price of New York strip steak rises, round steak
is substituted in its place. The former official inflation index
measured the cost of a constant standard of living. The “reformed” index
measures the cost of a falling standard of living.
The other way the “reformed” measure of inflation understates the
cost of living is to discard price rises as “quality improvements.” It
is true that quality improvements can result in higher prices. However,
it is still a price rise for the consumer as the former product is no
longer available. Moreover, not all price rises are quality
improvements; yet many prices rises that are not can be misinterpreted
as “quality improvements.”
These two “reforms” resulted in no reported inflation and a halt to
cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security recipients. The fall in
Social Security real incomes also negatively impacted aggregate consumer
demand.
The rigged understatement of inflation deceived people into believing
that the US economy was in recovery. The lower the measure of
inflation, the higher is real GDP when nominal GDP is deflated by the
inflation measure. By understating inflation, the US government has
overstated GDP growth.
What I have written is easily ascertained and proven; yet the
financial press does not question the propaganda that sustains the
psychology that the US economy is sound. This carefully cultivated
psychology keeps the rest of the world invested in dollars, thus
sustaining the House of Cards.
John Maynard Keynes understood that the Great Depression was the
product of an insufficiency of consumer demand to take off the shelves
the goods produced by industry. The post-WW II macroeconomic policy
focused on maintaining the adequacy of aggregate demand in order to
avoid high unemployment. The supply-side policy of President Reagan
successfully corrected a defect in Keynesian macroeconomic policy and
kept the US economy functioning without the “stagflation” from worsening
“Philips Curve” trade-offs between inflation and employent. In the 21st
century, jobs offshoring has depleted consumer demand’s ability to
maintain US full employment.
The unemployment measure that the presstitute press reports is
meaningless as it counts no discouraged workers, and discouraged workers
are a huge part of American unemployment. The reported unemployment
rate is about 5%, which is the U-3 measure that does not count as
unemployed workers who are too discouraged to continue searching for
jobs.
The US government has a second official unemployment measure, U-6,
that counts workers discouraged for less than one-year. This official
rate of unemployment is 10%.
When long term (more than one year) discouraged workers are included
in the measure of unemployment, as once was done, the US unemployment
rate is 23%. (See John Williams, shadowstats.com)
Fiscal and monetary stimulus can pull the unemployed back to work if
jobs for them still exist domestically. But if the jobs have been sent
offshore, monetary and fiscal policy cannot work.
What jobs offshoring does is to give away US GDP to the countries to
which US corporations move the jobs. In other words, with the jobs go
American careers, consumer purchasing power and the tax base of state,
local, and federal governments. There are only a few American winners,
and they are the shareholders of the companies that offshored the jobs
and the executives of the companies who receive multi-million dollar
“performance bonuses” for raising profits by lowering labor costs. And,
of course, the economists, who get grants, speaking engagements, and
corporate board memberships for shilling for the offshoring policy that
worsens the distribution of income and wealth. An economy run for a few
only benefits the few, and the few, no matter how large their incomes,
cannot consume enough to keep the economy growing.
In the 21st century US economic policy has destroyed the ability of
real aggregate demand in the US to increase. Economists will deny this,
because they are shills for globalism and jobs offshoring. They
misrepresent jobs offshoring as free trade and, as in their ideology
free trade benefits everyone, claim that America is benefitting from
jobs offshoring. Yet, they cannot show any evidence whatsoever of these
alleged benefits. (See my book, The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West.) http://www.amazon.com/Failure-Laissez-Faire-Capitalism/dp/0986036250/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1455746560&sr=1-1&keywords=paul+craig+roberts-the+failure+of+laissez-faire+capitalism
As an economist, it is a mystery to me how any economist can think
that a population that does not produce the larger part of the goods
that it consumes can afford to purchase the goods that it consumes.
Where does the income come from to pay for imports when imports are
swollen by the products of offshored production?
We were told that the income would come from better-paid replacement
jobs provided by the “New Economy,” but neither the payroll jobs reports
nor the US Labor Departments’s projections of future jobs show any sign
of this mythical “New Economy.”
There is no “New Economy.” The “New Economy” is like the
neoconservatives promise that the Iraq war would be a six-week “cake
walk” paid for by Iraqi oil revenues, not a $3 trillion dollar expense
to American taxpayers (according to Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes)
and a war that has lasted the entirely of the 21st century to date, and
is getting more dangerous.
The American “New Economy” is the American Third World economy in
which the only jobs created are low productivity, low paid nontradable
domestic service jobs incapable of producing export earnings with which
to pay for the goods and services produced offshore for US consumption.
The massive debt arising from Washington’s endless wars for
neoconservative hegemony now threaten Social Security and the entirety
of the social safety net. The presstitute media are blaming not the
policy that has devasted Americans, but, instead, the Americans who have
been devasted by the policy.
Earlier this month I posted readers’ reports on the dismal job
situation in Ohio, Southern Illinois, and Texas. In the March issue of Chronicles,
Wayne Allensworth describes America’s declining rural towns and once
great industrial cities as consequences of “globalizing capitalism.” A
thin layer of very rich people rule over those “who have been left
behind”—a shrinking middle class and a growing underclass. According to a
poll last autumn, 53 percent of Americans say that they feel like a
stranger in their own country.
Most certainly these Americans have no political representation. As
Republicans and Democrats work to raise the retirement age in order to
reduce Social Security outlays, Princeton University experts report that
the mortality rates for the white working class are rising. The US
government will not be happy until no one lives long enough to collect
Social Security.
The United States government has abandoned everyone except the rich.
In the opening sentence of this article, I said that the two
murderers of the American economy were jobs offshoring and financial
deregulation. Deregulation greatly enhanced the ability of the large
banks to financialize the economy. Financialization is the diversion of
income streams into debt service. When debt service absorbs a large
amount of the available income, the economy experiences debt deflation.
The service of debt leaves too little income for purchases of goods and
services and prices fall.
Michael Hudson, who I recently wrote about, is the expert on finanialization. His book, Killing the Host,
which I recommended to you, tells the complete story. Briefly,
financialization is the process by which creditors capitalize an
economy’s economic surplus into interest payments to themselves. Perhaps
an example would be a corporation that goes into debt in order to buy
back its shares. The corporation achieves a temporary boost in its share
prices at the cost of years of interest payments that drain the
corporation of profits and deflate its share price.
Michael Hudson stresses the conversion of the rental value of real
estate into mortgage payments. He emphasizes that classical economists
wanted to base taxation not on production, but on economic rent.
Economic rent is value due to location or to a monopoly position. For
example, beachfront property has a higher price because of location. The
difference in value between beachfront and nonbeachfront property is
economic rent, not a produced value. An unregulated monopoly can charge a
price for a service that is higher than the price that would bring that
service unto the market.
The proposal to tax economic rent does not mean taxing you on the
rent that you pay your landlord or taxing your landlord on the rent that
you pay him such that he ceases to provide the housing. By economic
rent Hudson means, for example, the rise in land values due to public
infrastructure projects such as roads and subway systems. The rise in
the value of land opened by a new road and housing and in commercial
space along a new subway line is not due to any action of the property
owners. This rise in value could be taxed in order to pay for the
project instead of taxing the income of the population in general.
Instead, the rise in land values raises appraisals and the amount that
creditors are willing to lend on the property. New purchasers and
existing owners can borrow more on the property, and the larger
mortgages divert the increased land valuation into interest payments to
creditors. Lenders end up as the major beneficiaries of public projects
that raise real estate prices.
Similarly, unless the economy is financialized to such an extent that
mortgage debt can no longer be serviced, when central banks lower
interest rates property values rise, and this rise can be capitalized
into a larger mortgage.
Another example would be property tax reductions and legislation such
as California’s Proposition 13 that freeze in whole or part the
property tax base. The rise in real estate values that escape taxation
are capitalized into larger mortgages. New buyers do not benefit. The
beneficiaries are the lenders who capture the rise in real estate prices
in interest payments.
Taxing economic rent would prevent the financial system from
capitalizing the rent into debt instruments that pay interest to the
financial sector. Considering the amount of rents available to be taxed,
taxing rents would free production from income and sales taxation, thus
lowering consumer prices and freeing labor and productive capital from
taxation.
With so much of land rent already capitalized into debt instruments
shifting the tax burden to economic rent would be challenging.
Nevertheless, Hudson’s analysis shows that financialization, not wage
suppression, is the main instrument of exploitation and takes place via
the financial system’s conversion of income streams into interest
payments on debt.
I remember when mortgage service was restricted to one-quarter of
household income. Today mortgage service can eat up half of household
income. This extraordinary growth crowds out the production of goods and
services as less of household income is available for other purchases.
Michael Hudson and I bring a total indictment of the neoliberal economics profession, “junk economists” as Hudson calls them. UNZ
Is Pope Francis the Antichrist?
By Michael Hoffman
The “who am I to judge?” pontiff issues a judgment on Donald Trump: “Not a Christian”
We’ve got a history lesson for “His Holiness” — Christianity
from Britain to Italy was repeatedly saved and preserved through
victories in border wars and by erecting walls and forts. Mr. Trump is
right about illegal immigration: we need a wall to defend our land. If the pontiff is going to start issuing certificates of excommunication he ought to begin by cleaning his own papal house:
I. Starting with the bishops and cardinals who approve of the crime of sodomy, such as Bruno Forte, who wrote: “...connected to homosexual unions it has to be noted that there are cases in which mutual aid to the point of sacrifice constitutes a precious support in the life of the partners.”
—Archbishop Bruno Forte, Relatio post disceptationem, 2014 Church of Rome Synod on the Family (emphasis supplied).
II.
The Pontifical Commission of Pope Francis teaches the abominable heresy
that Jews are saved by genetic descent and need not believe in Jesus
Christ: “...it
does not in any way follow that the Jews are excluded from God’s
salvation because they do not believe in Jesus Christ as the Messiah of
Israel and the Son of God.” — Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, December 10, 2015. Cardinal Kurt Koch, President (emphasis supplied).
The
Pope of Rome’s intervention in the process of the American people
choosing the next President of the United States is an outrageous act of
foreign subversion. Francis reigns in an Italy with one of the lowest
birthrates on earth. He is on record mocking Catholics who “breed like
rabbits.” He preaches social justice and compassion for the poor while benefiting from the usury proceeds of his shylock Vatican Bank. This “Holy Father" is a mentally and spiritually sick individual.
As Christians we support the building of a just society in places like the failed state of Mexico. This begins with sealing the border so that the best and brightest in that nation will remain in their land, and with the help of the people of the United States, extirpate from their government and society the plague of systematic bribery, corruption, kidnapping, rape and mass murder. Turning the USA into Mexico serves no one but the devil.
The truth is, Pope Francis refuses to judge the
mortal sins that he regards as virtually harmless. He only issues
judgments against those acts which were long ago deemed civic virtues
when sanity still prevailed in Christendom.
One need not favor the invasion of one’s nation to qualify as a follower of Christ. The call for open borders is a revolutionary plank of the Babylonian Beast System, with Antichrist at its head.
__________________________
Michael Hoffman is the author of Usury in Christendom: The Mortal Sin that Was and Now is Not; and the editor of Revisionist History newsletter, published six times a year. Michael Hoffman
5 Tips to Reduce Radiation Exposure
By Sophia Ruan Gushée | February 23, 2016
Electronic media (i.e., smart phones, televisions, or other electronic
devices) has offered us unprecedented access to music, entertainment,
information, and to each other. Internet access and electronic devices
have offered so much value, however, that those 8 to 18 years old spend
approximately 9.5 hours per day with electronic devices, according to a national study published in 2010 by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Too much of a good thing has consequences. For example, researchers
studying health effects found that blue light from technology screens
can disrupt sleep, and electromagnetic fields from electronics may
contribute to various adverse health effects
(including DNA damage, reproductive issues, and neurotoxicity).
Furthermore, all that exposure to electronic media can contribute to
obesity, negatively influence your brain (which is still developing
until age 20), and develop unhealthy habits that are hard to break.
To create healthier balance, consider the tips below.
1. Detox Your Bedroom.
Electronics—even cordless phones and electric alarm clocks—emit electromagnetic fields
(or EMFs) that may burden your health. Since EMFs are relatively new
and diseases take decades to manifest, conclusions need more time.
Meanwhile, governments are recognizing that vulnerabilities vary and
some—such as those in France, Canada, and Australia—have taken measures
to limit children’s EMF exposures. In your bedroom, minimize the
electronics, especially near your bed. Turn WiFi and other devices off
at night. If you can’t, then create as much distance as possible from
WiFi routers and those sleeping, and turn WiFi devices to airplane mode.
2. Create Mini Detoxes.
Increased screen time can decrease human connections, disrupt sleep,
weaken memory, reduce empathy, worsen posture, deteriorate eye health,
and impair cardiac and nervous systems. Take mini detoxes for an hour or
more each day. During this time, move your body in fresh air: bike,
walk, jog, or play a sport. Even better, walk barefoot on grass or the
beach: Electrons from the Earth may help boost immunity and fight inflammation.
3. Create More Distance.
(Thomas_Zsebok_Images/iStock)
EMF exposure decreases with distance from the emitting source. So
reduce your exposures by creating distance between you and the source.
- From cell phones, text is best (don’t text while driving, though!) When you must speak, use speakerphone or headphones with built-in microphones to create distance from your brain (Bluetooth can emit EMFs too). Keep phone calls short. And avoid keeping cellphones in your pockets since they emit EMFs even when not in use.
- While using a laptop, avoid having it on your lap, and remember that EMFs will be much higher if it is plugged into an electrical outlet.
4. Practice Mindfulness.
Using electronics, and especially social media, can increase anxiety,
loneliness, and depression. While a trained medical professional is
sometimes needed, electronics and social media can make you feel worse.
So limit your exposure, and notice how you feel after you’ve spent more
time enjoying the offline world. Consider when being on your electronics
is truly necessary: While electronics are sometimes necessary for work
and productivity, we can limit usage for when we are bored, or because
it’s habit.
5. Give Technology a Bedtime That’s at Least an Hour Before Yours.
Blue light from electronic screens can hinder sleep by disrupting circadian rhythms, and suppressing melatonin. The Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical
school has linked insufficient sleep with poor memory, poor judgment,
and higher risk of chronic disease. Other experts linked poor sleep with
cancer, diabetes, and obesity. Conversely, more sleep can help your academic scores (including SAT scores) and decrease driving accidents! Thepochtimes
Monday, February 22, 2016
Grammy Winning Satanic Band Ghost Explains Religious Influence from Vatican
The Swedish heavy metal band Ghost won the 2016 Grammy Awards for Best Metal Performance category in relation to their song Cirice. Cirice is part of the band’s Meliora album which is now the third compilation released by the occult artists. Among the band’s rivals and top nominees for the category include August Burns Red, Lamb of God, Sevendust and Slipknot. The group is noted to be the first Swedish rock band to be nominated and eventually win in the Grammys.
The band known for its eccentric performances is composed of six visually-frightening members easily recognized for their satanic attires. Five men who call themselves as Nameless Ghouls play the instruments while the lead vocalist is known as Papa Emeritus. The Nameless Ghouls who are wearing identical devil masks and costumes represent the five instrumentalities or elements (fire, water, air, earth and aether or quintessence) while their leader Papa Emeritus represents the group’s anti-pope symbol.
From the time the group was formed in 2006, the real identity of each member remains unknown. In an interview with one of the Nameless Ghouls, concealing their identities is purposely done to let their audience focus on their music and artwork instead of the members.
Aside from their appearances, the most noticeable thing about Ghost’s music is the blatant use of satanic lyrics infused with ideas of the devil, doomsday, blasphemy, sexuality, etc. In a website dedicated to the group, Ghost is described as a “devil worshipping ministry” that uses pop rock music to achieve their ends that is; “to glorify and glamorize the disgusting and sacrilegious” and “to majestically weave their melodic spell of evil through the senses until the listener finds themselves utterly possessed and open to any diabolical suggestion.”
The online news and magazine site Tampa Bay had an opportunity to discuss religion with one of the band’s members. According to the ghoul, the band as a whole is described as Satanist, but each individual has their own beliefs. “The band is, certainly. But that’s not saying that everyone in the band is. I would never know. Even if someone told me they were, I couldn’t be sure… Some of the guys in the band might believe (in Satanism). I wouldn’t want to speak too much about it because it’s not my thing. I don’t. I don’t believe in God… As much as I don’t believe in God, I also believe in development. I’m still searching.”
In another interview, another ghoul explained that their eccentric image has a deeper goal. He believes that religion has been one of the biggest problems of society today. And Sweden just like the rest of the Western world is getting more and more secular. For him, the band simply wants to tell people that amidst the knowledge of today, there are things still unknown to mankind that needs to be accepted. That is, avoiding “disregard towards the idea that there are a lot of things that we might believe that we don't understand.”
This disbelief has influenced much of their work. For their first album entitled Opus Eponynymous, a Nameless Ghoul explained that it tackles the ever presence of antichrist and of the impending doomsday. Their second album Infestissumam represents the “horrors of being religious” and the ever prevalence of devil up to today.
With each album release, the band also adapts a slightly different costume. In the same manner, Papa Emeritus has also “changed” characters from Papa Emeritus I, II and the current Papa Emeritus III. According to the group, such changes reflect the papal succession in the Catholic Church.
Though satanic in nature, each concert performance is also influenced by religion. One of the ghouls interviewed said that the goal of their unique theatrics is to mimic a church mass “What we wish to simulate at our shows, to the point where it's real, is a mass. It's this idea of religion, where people meet in a room or a building or a place that we have agreed upon as being solemn, and we then conduct predetermined rituals – rituals being the songs, or movements, things like that – in order for us to reach a sense of divine presence. And a lot of the sensations that we are evoking at our shows are very close to the sort of warm religious feelings you would get from an actual church mass. We're using the same sort of symbolism as the church, in a way, but with the idea of achieving bliss. Joyful bliss.” WRN
The Trump-Jesuit conexion
If you thought the Donald Trump presidential race
was strange to begin with, did you ever think he’s just part of a
worldwide Jesuit conspiracy and a secret agent for the St. Ignatius
battalions?
That’s the phony baloney claim made on Reddit recently which
has since gone to top of the Google search charts and drawn a response
from a prominent jesuit in the magazine America.
As a conspiracy theory this knocks Obama born in Kenya into a cocked hat.
But as Father Jim McDermott of America magazine writes, it is one that has clearly gained followers
He writes” “I know, it’s just one crazy link. Except it’s the one ranked highest by Google.
“It is also not the only post in the top 10 with a similar
message. In fact only two of the top ten links about Donald Trump and
Jesuit don’t have something to do with the apparent Jesuit-Trump
conspiracy that no one has had the courtesy to let me know we are in on.
(If you only have time to sample one piece from this magical universe,
may I suggest the first few minutes of this YouTube post about why,
during the “Jesuit Paris Attacks,” a woman believes Donald Trump got
switched out by his clone. It begins “I was watching Fox News this
morning.”
It seems where the Donald is concerned no theory is outlandish enough.
The author of the viral reddit post states Donald Trump is a “false flag” candidate, or not what he appears to be and writes:
“Donald
Trump has been the subject of media frenzy as of late. It seems that a
considerable amount of those who subscribe to alternative sources of
information are Trump supporters. They see him as some kind of rebel,
going against both the Republican and Democratic parties .
“Could
it be though, that Donald Trump is a "false flag candidate" being used
to secure the vote of the ever-increasing independent constituency in
order to inevitably lull the US into a false sense of positive political
novelty and thus to subsequently impose Jesuitical right-wing fascism
leading to a nationwide race war as devised by the masters of class
adversarialism, the Sons of Loyola?
The article goes on: “It very well could be. Here is why:
“Trump
claims to be Presbyterian, yet he attended Jesuit Fordham University
for two years and then transferred to the covertly Jesuit-controlled
University of Pennsylvania.
Ah that’s it Donald attending Fordham University made it clear he was a Jesuit stooge.
There’s also an anti-semitic passage saying the Jews and Jesuits are all in this together--SURPRISE.
He
even investigates Trump’s children. At the end the writer concludes:
“There you have it; Trump, in addition to being affiliated with both
Jesuit Fordham and covertly Jesuit UPenn, has at least three children
who are all alumni of Penn and notorious Jesuit Georgetown University!
“Whether
it be Trump, Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton or even Bernie Sanders that ends
up winning the 2016 election, all of these candidates are connected to
Rome and all will only serve to implement the tyrannical, neo-Romanist
policies of the Papacy and its professed soldiers of the Jesuits.”
I always thought Sanders, who is Jewish was really a secret Jesuit archbishop didn’t you? Bishop Bernie.
Lord
what is the word coming to Donald Trump a secret Jesuit agent, the pope
trying to take over America (he’s a Jesuit too, though he did just accuse Trump of not being Christian, which puts something of a spanner in the works for this plot).
Maybe we can start a new rally cry Vote for Donald Trump’s clone (let's call him Dolly after the first cloned sheep.
Our slogan? Hello President Dolly, goodbye impostor Donald. IrishCentral
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Silicon Valley appears open to helping US spy agencies after terrorism summit
Obama administration acknowledges ‘complicated first amendment issues’
after top counter-terrorism officials traveled to California to woo
technology executives from companies including Apple, Facebook and
Twitter
Technology giants appeared to be open to helping the US government combat Islamic State
during an extraordinary closed-door summit on Friday that brought
together America’s most senior counter-terrorism officials with some of
Silicon Valley’s most powerful executives.
The remarkable rendezvous between Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft
and others and a delegation from the White House revealed a willingness
on the part of tech firms to work with the government, and indicated
that the Obama administration appears to have concluded it can’t combat terrorists online on its own.
Top officials – including National Security Agency director Michael
Rogers, White House chief of staff Denis McDonough and FBI director
James Comey – appeared to want to know how they could launch a social
media campaign to discredit Isis, a person familiar with the
conversation said.
A briefing document
sent to tech executives Friday morning in advance of the meeting and
shared with the Guardian laid out a wish list from the government
delegation, which included America’s most senior spy, director of
national intelligence James Clapper.
“We are interested in exploring all options with you for how to deal
with the growing threat of terrorists and other malicious actors using
technology, including encrypted technology,” the briefing document said.
“Are there technologies that could make it harder for terrorists to use
the internet to mobilize, facilitate, and operationalize?”
Despite recent fights over civil liberties, encryption, and
surveillance, tech executives appeared receptive to this message,
according to sources familiar with conversations at the meeting.
“I was pleasantly surprised by the tone of the conversation,” said
one attendee, Matthew Prince, chief executive of CloudFlare, a San
Francisco-based security and network company. Christopher Young, head of
Intel’s security group, who was also in the room, added it was “a good
discussion today”.
In Washington earlier, White House press secretary Josh Earnest told
reporters “many of these technology companies that are participating in
the meeting today are run by patriotic Americans” and would want to
cooperate.
Earnest acknowledged there are “obviously a lot of complicated first
amendment issues and other things” but added: “you know, our sense here
is that there’s some common ground that we should be able to find”.
One area of discussion was over how a system used by Facebook to deal with users at risk of suicide could serve as a model for identifying terrorist sympathizers.
The social network’s chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, walked
government officials through how Facebook currently enables users to
flag people who appear to be posting suicidal thoughts, a person
familiar with the conversation said. The government officials in the
room wondered if such a system could be used to flag terrorist content
or detect a user who appears to be radicalizing, added the person,
declining to be quoted on the record.
“This meeting confirmed that we are united in our goal to keep
terrorists and terror-promoting material off the Internet,” a Facebook
spokeswoman said. “Facebook does not tolerate terrorists or terror
propaganda.”
It wasn’t all agreement. At another point, Apple’s chief executive
Tim Cook told the government it needs to state publicly that it supports
strong encryption. Over the past year, Apple has faced repeated attacks from the FBI for selling products that, officials say, criminals could use to communicate in secret.
Other technology companies present included LinkedIn, DropBox, YouTube, Yahoo and PayPal.
This was not the first time such a senior delegation has traveled to Silicon Valley, but the attempt by America’s leading counter-terrorism officials to court tech executives was an unusual sight.
Flanked by Secret Service agents, secretary of homeland security Jeh
Johnson and McDonough smiled as they popped out for a Starbucks run
about 20 minutes before the scheduled 11am start of a meeting in San
Jose, California.
The top Obama administration officials walked past a Mexican
restaurant; a sign on an office window describes the region as “the
world’s innovation incubator”. Moments later, Johnson was seen shaking
hands with Drew Houston, founder and CEO of Dropbox.
No tech executive would want to be seen supporting terrorism online, but the government’s ask is trickier than it may seem.
Ideally, the Obama administration wants technology companies to be
able to find terrorists on social media and chat apps for them, current
and former US officials said. This would involve piecing together
communications networks and message content to map terrorist cells. The
government’s assumption, these people said, is that technology firms are
doing much of this anyway for business purposes.
However, since Edward Snowden leaked western government secrets to
the Guardian and other outlets in 2013, Silicon Valley has become
increasingly cautious about seeming too cozy with Washington’s
three-letter agencies.
Government requests also raise legal issues. Under current US law,
tech firms only are supposed to share user content with authorities if
faced with a court order for a specific user or there is a credible,
immediate threat of harm.
“It’s a very fine line to get that information,” said Andre McGregor,
a former FBI terrorism investigator and now director of security at
Tanium Inc, a Silicon Valley security company. “You’re essentially
trying to take what is in someone’s head and determine whether or not
there’s going to be some violent physical reaction associated with it.”
Companies provide some voluntary assistance now – such as when it
removed a Facebook page last month linked to the shootings in San
Bernardino – but it’s unclear how much further they would go.
The government also appears conscious of the risks. In the briefing
document sent to tech executives before the meeting it asked if any
terrorist content flagging system “were clearly independent from
government involvement, would that increase its viability”.
They also face competing demands from different US officials.
Public-facing politicians – such as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump,
the respective Democratic and Republican presidential frontrunners –
have called on technology companies to effectively kick terrorists off
the internet. That’s impossible, the companies respond.
Others, such as those inside the FBI and NSA, sometimes want American
firms to keep terrorist accounts up – and keep authorities in the loop.
“It’s a no-brainer to keep Isis using US products,” said Christopher
Soghoian, principal technologist at the American Civil Liberties Union
and a privacy advocate. Soghoian countered however that it’s up to the
government to find terrorists online and it would be impractical to ask
companies to do it.
Referring to the armies of overseas contractors tech companies use to
police social media he said, “are you going to entrust that decision to
someone getting paid $2 an hour in the Philippines?”
After the meeting wrapped up, the nation’s top spies demonstrated
their skills of evasion. Attendees slipped out various side doors.
Others exited the building. None were available to comment. The Guardian
Heroic Austrian Deputy Economy Minister: Constitutional Right to Pay in Cash
Austrians should have the constitutional right to use cash to protect their privacy, Deputy Economy Minister Harald Mahrer said, as the European Union considers curbing the use of banknotes and coins.
“We don’t want someone to be able to track digitally what we buy, eat and drink, what books we read and what movies we watch,” Mahrer said on Austrian public radio station Oe1. “We will fight everywhere against rules” including caps on cash purchases, he said.
EU finance ministers vowed at a meeting in Brussels on Friday to crack down on “illicit cash movements.” They urged the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, to “explore the need for appropriate restrictions on cash payments exceeding certain thresholds and to engage with the European Central Bank to consider appropriate measures regarding high denomination notes, in particular the 500-euro note.”
Ministers told the commission to report on its findings by May 1. Bloomberg
Note:
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
Revelation 13:16-18
The reformers in Scotland
With the opening of the Great Reformation came the writings of Luther, and then Tyndale's English New Testament. Unnoticed by the hierarchy, these messengers silently traversed the mountains and valleys, kindling into new life the torch of truth so nearly extinguished in Scotland, and undoing the work which Rome for four centuries of oppression had done.
Then the blood of martyrs gave fresh impetus to the movement. The papist leaders, suddenly awakening to the danger that threatened their cause, brought to the stake some of the noblest and most honored of the sons of Scotland. They did but erect a pulpit, from which the words of these dying witnesses were heard throughout the land, thrilling the souls of the people with an undying purpose to cast off the shackles of Rome.
Hamilton and Wishart, princely in character as in birth, with a long line of humbler disciples, yielded up their lives at the stake. But from the burning pile of Wishart there came one whom the flames were not to silence, one who under God was to strike the death knell of popery in Scotland.
John Knox had turned away from the traditions and mysticisms of the church, to feed upon the truths of God's word; and the teaching of Wishart had confirmed his determination to forsake the communion of Rome and join himself to the persecuted Reformers. Great Controversy p. 250
Pope Francis is expected to make his first visit to Scotland to sign a charter against extremism.
POPE Francis is expected to make his first visit to Scotland to sign a charter against extremism.
The leader of the Catholic leader is understood to be a surprise addition to an event at St Andrews University in September.
It would be his first visit to the UK in three years.
Leaders
from different religions, diplomatic and community leaders will all
gather in the Fife town to sign a 10-point declaration calling on all
faiths to unite against radicalsation.
It already has the support of Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama.
The Pope has spoken out against the terrorist groups who brainwash vulnerable young people and draw them into extremist networks.
The Vatican has yet to confirm he will attend the event, but said the visit is “under consideration”.
Professor of religion and politics at St Andrews Mario
Aguilar invited the Pope to take part in raising awareness of the
charter against extremism.
He has met him several times and wrote his biography in 2014.
He
said: “My understanding is that Pope Francis is interested and has put
the event on his agenda of activities. I have had an indication his
visit is being considered.”
A visit by the Pople, however brief, would be a huge coup for Scotland’s 850,000 Catholics.
But it would not be anything like the elaborate trip made by Pope Benedict in 2010.
Pope
Francis could fly in to Leuchars then return to Rome on the same day.
Aguilar stressed that he would be coming in a private capacity, to
attend an academic event. “It will not be a pastoral visit.” DailyRecord
The King Of Hypocrisy
Published on Feb 14, 2016
Full Bill Hughes Operation Gladio video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTXr4...
Pope Francis is in Mexico telling them they need to clean up their drug trafficking and corrupt ways while failing to mention his own Vatican City is a Hub for drugs, money laundering and child trafficking.
Jorge Bergoglio aka Francis Dirty War Argentina 1974-1983
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pqkd...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTXr4...
Pope Francis is in Mexico telling them they need to clean up their drug trafficking and corrupt ways while failing to mention his own Vatican City is a Hub for drugs, money laundering and child trafficking.
Jorge Bergoglio aka Francis Dirty War Argentina 1974-1983
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pqkd...
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s head was under a pillow when he was found dead at a Texas ranch
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s head was under a pillow when he was found dead at a Texas ranch, according to the ranch owner who found his body.
“We discovered the judge in bed, a pillow over his head. His
bedclothes were unwrinkled,” Texas millionaire John Poindexter told the San Antonio Express-News
Sunday, describing how he found the 79-year-old jurist in the “El
Presidente” suite at Poindexter’s 30,000-acre luxury ranch on Saturday.
“It looked like he had not quite awakened from a nap,” Poindexter said.
He later told the New York Times, “His hands were sort of almost folded on top of the sheets. The sheets weren’t rumpled up at all.”
While some reports claimed Scalia’s death was caused by a heart
attack, Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara said he died of “natural
causes.”
Guevara told the Associated Press that Scalia’s personal physician,
as well as sheriff’s investigators, said there were no signs of foul
play.
There was no autopsy at the family’s request and his body was flown from El Paso to Washington, DC, late Sunday afternoon.
Scalia was described as “animated and engaged” during a dinner on Friday night.
“He was seated near me and I had a chance to observe him,” Poindexter
said. “He was very entertaining. But about 9 p.m. he said, ‘It’s been a
long day and a long week. I want to get some sleep.’ ” NY Post
Prepare for the worst: Venezuela is heading toward complete disaster
THE POLITICAL drama in Venezuela, where a populist, authoritarian government is attempting to cling to power despite losing a legislative election by a landslide,
tends to obscure a deeper crisis. Though it is awash in oil, the
country of 30 million people is facing an economic collapse and a
humanitarian disaster.
Venezuela already suffers from the world’s highest inflation rate — expected to rise from 275 percent to 720 percent this year
— one of its higher murder rates and pervasive shortages of consumer
goods, ranging from car parts to toilet paper. Power outages and the
lack of raw materials are forcing surviving factories and shops to close
or limit opening hours. According to a local survey cited by the Economist, the poverty rate is 76 percent, compared with 55 percent when Hugo Chávez, the late founder of the regime, took power in 1999.
Worst
of all, the country is running desperately short of food and medicine.
Venezuelans spend much of their time waiting in lines outside stores,
but increasingly the shelves are bare. The head of the nation’s pharmaceutical association recently appealed to the World Health Organization for aid, saying that distribution of 70 percent
of basic medicines was disrupted. The chairman of the largest domestic
food producer has said that if the government does not quickly seek aid
to import food, it “will cause grave harm to ordinary Venezuelans.”
The
math behind these warnings is stark, as economist Ricardo Hausmann
recently outlined in the Financial Times. At current oil prices,
Venezuela will earn less than $18 billion from exports this year, while it owes $10 billion in payments on the $120 billion in debt
it has racked up. That leaves $8 billion for imports, but even after
contracting 20 percent, imports were $37 billion in 2015 — and Venezuela
now imports most of its food. Even with a debt default that the markets
expect, it’s hard to see where additional hard currency will come from:
The country broke relations with the International Monetary Fund almost
a decade ago, has no ability to obtain private loans and has nearly
exhausted its liquid reserves. It already owes China, its latest
benefactor, $50 billion.
Facing
this calamity, the government of President Nicolás Maduro appears
paralyzed. Mr. Maduro and one of his ministers have spoken of taking
desperately needed common-sense measures, such as raising the price of state-retailed gasoline, now below 1 cent per gallon, and altering a currency exchange system under which the U.S. dollar is worth 150 times more on the black market
than it is at the official rate. Day after day, however, the government
does not act; in a Facebook post Wednesday, Mr. Maduro hinted at
disputes among his ministers, one of whom argues that inflation does not
exist.
Leaders of the opposition’s new parliamentary
majority, who are locked in a public power struggle with the regime, are
said to be negotiating with it behind the scenes. A pact between the
two sides on emergency measures, coupled with an appeal to the IMF, is
Venezuela’s best chance of rescue. Sadly, it doesn’t look likely — which
is why its neighbors, and the United States, should be preparing for an
implosion. Washington Post
The Dark, Bloody and Muddled Origins Of Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day is a time to celebrate romance and love and
kissy-face fealty. But the origins of this festival of candy and cupids
are actually dark, bloody — and a bit muddled.
A drawing depicts the death of St. Valentine — one of them,
anyway. The Romans executed two men by that name on Feb. 14 of different
years in the 3rd century A.D.
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Though no one has pinpointed the exact origin of the holiday, one
good place to start is ancient Rome, where men hit on women by, well,
hitting them.
Those Wild And Crazy Romans
From
Feb. 13 to 15, the Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia. The men
sacrificed a goat and a dog, then whipped women with the hides of the
animals they had just slain.
The Roman romantics "were drunk.
They were naked," says Noel Lenski, a historian at the University of
Colorado at Boulder. Young women would actually line up for the men to
hit them, Lenski says. They believed this would make them fertile.
The
brutal fete included a matchmaking lottery, in which young men drew the
names of women from a jar. The couple would then be, um, coupled up for
the duration of the festival — or longer, if the match was right.
The
ancient Romans may also be responsible for the name of our modern day
of love. Emperor Claudius II executed two men — both named Valentine —
on Feb. 14 of different years in the 3rd century A.D. Their martyrdom
was honored by the Catholic Church with the celebration of St.
Valentine's Day.
Later, Pope Gelasius I muddled things in the
5th century by combining St. Valentine's Day with Lupercalia to expel
the pagan rituals. But the festival was more of a theatrical
interpretation of what it had once been. Lenski adds, "It was a little
more of a drunken revel, but the Christians put clothes back on it. That
didn't stop it from being a day of fertility and love."
Around
the same time, the Normans celebrated Galatin's Day. Galatin meant
"lover of women." That was likely confused with St. Valentine's Day at
some point, in part because they sound alike.
William Shakespeare helped romanticize Valentine's Day in
his work, and it gained popularity throughout Britain and the rest of
Europe.
Perry-Castañeda Library, University of Texas
Shakespeare In Love
As the years
went on, the holiday grew sweeter. Chaucer and Shakespeare romanticized
it in their work, and it gained popularity throughout Britain and the
rest of Europe. Handmade paper cards became the tokens-du-jour in the
Middle Ages.
Eventually, the tradition made its way to the New
World. The industrial revolution ushered in factory-made cards in the
19th century. And in 1913, Hallmark Cards of Kansas City, Mo., began
mass producing valentines. February has not been the same since.
Today,
the holiday is big business: According to market research firm IBIS
World, Valentine's Day sales reached $17.6 billion last year; this
year's sales are expected to total $18.6 billion.
But that
commercialization has spoiled the day for many. Helen Fisher, a
sociologist at Rutgers University, says we have only ourselves to blame.
"This
isn't a command performance," she says. "If people didn't want to buy
Hallmark cards, they would not be bought, and Hallmark would go out of
business."
And so the celebration of Valentine's Day goes on,
in varied ways. Many will break the bank buying jewelry and flowers for
their beloveds. Others will celebrate in a SAD (that's Single Awareness
Day) way, dining alone and binging on self-gifted chocolates. A few may
even be spending this day the same way the early Romans did. But let's
not go there. NPR
Saturday, February 6, 2016
Yeast Is A Cause of Cancer And Turmeric Can Kill Both
Tuesday, January 5th 2016 at 2:15 pm
A recent study published in Critical Reviews in Microbiology
lends support to the concept that opportunistic Candida albicans
(yeast) infection may not just be a consequence of cancer, but is an
actively contributing cause as well.
Titled, "Candida albicans and cancer: Can this yeast induce cancer development or progression?", the study provided the following important background information on this controversial subject:
There is currently increasing concern about the relation between microbial infections and cancer. More and more studies support the view that there is an association, above all, when the causal agents are bacteria or viruses. This review adds to this, summarizing evidence that the opportunistic fungus Candida albicans increases the risk of carcinogenesis and metastasis. Until recent years, Candida spp. had fundamentally been linked to cancerous processes as it is an opportunist pathogen that takes advantage of the immunosuppressed state of patients particularly due to chemotherapy. In contrast, the most recent findings demonstrate that C. albicans is capable of promoting cancer by several mechanisms, as described in the review: production of carcinogenic byproducts, triggering of inflammation, induction of Th17 response and molecular mimicry. We underline the need not only to control this type of infection during cancer treatment, especially given the major role of this yeast species in nosocomial infections, but also to find new therapeutic approaches to avoid the pro-tumor effect of this fungal species.
The four distinct ways by which Candida albicans may contribute to cancer are explained in more detail below:
- Production of carcinogenic byproducts: First, Candida Albicans produces nitrosamines, which are carcinogens that activate specific proto-oncogenes that could trigger cancerous lesions. Second, Candida albicans produce acetaldehyde, which is produced as the first metabolite of ethanol (the yeast fermentation byproduct), and which is a DNA-damaging (mutagenic) and carcinogenic chemical with a wide range of downstream cancer promoting properties.
- Triggering of inflammation: Prolonged, unresolved inflammation can promote cancer, both by causing damage to tissue, and through the secretion of proliferative chemicals intended to stimulate regeneration of damaged tissue, but which can render tissue immortalized when the inflammation is chronic and misdirected. Candida albicans is well known to promote a cascade of inflammatory responses within the body when growing beyond their normal population density due to immunosuppression, an inappropriate diet, and/or chemical exposure. These misguided inflammatory responses have been found to promote increases in tumor cell adhesion, which is believed to promote the formation of secondary tumors and/or metastasis.
- Induction of Th17 response: The set of CD4 T-cells that are dominant in response to Candida albicans, namely, TH17 cells, also secrete factors that may promote angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels) and increased tumor incidence and growth.
- Molecular mimicry: Antibodies produced against a protein on the surface of Candida Albicans (CR3-RP) has structural and antigenic similarities with a receptor on certain of our white blood cells (leukocytes). This "molecular mimicry" may cause antibodies to be formed against our immune cells that then disturb the anti-tumor and anti-Candida defenses of the host.
This newly identified research not
only substantiates the concept that yeast overgrowth can be a
contributing cause of cancer, but it also, indirectly, raises a red flag
to both sugar and alcohol consumption. Clearly, if sugar and its
conversion to ethanol produce acetaldehyde, reducing excessive
consumption of either is a good chemopreventive step, and likely a
completely necessary intervention when actively treating already
established cancers -- that is, if the goal is full remission.
Moreover,
sugar has also recently been found to not just feed cancer, but
actively contributes to the transformation of normal cells into
cancerous ones; i.e. sugar is potentially carcinogenic. Read my recent article, "Research Reveals How Sugar CAUSES Cancer," to learn more.
The implications of this research are profound since sugar also
promotes yeast growth, which means that sugar is both directly and
indirectly carcinogenic; a fact that is all the more concerning
considering cancer treatment wards in major hospitals still give
sugar-containing foods and beverages to their patients while being
treated, or recovering from treatment.
Turmeric: A One-Two PUNCH
A new study published in the European Journal of Pharmacology reveals that the primary polyphenol in turmeric known as curcumin may be the perfect way to fight cancers that have a fungal component.
Titled, "Curcumin
and its promise as an anticancer drug: An analysis of its anticancer
and antifungal effects in cancer and associated complications from
invasive fungal infections," the new study addressed the
concerning problem of invasive fungal infections, as a major cause of
both morbidity and mortality, in cancer patients. According to the
study, "Effective anti-infection therapy is necessary to inhibit
significant deterioration from these infections. However, they are
difficult to treat, and increasing antifungal drug resistance often
leads to a relapse." The authors suggest curcumin might offer an ideal
natural alternative:
Curcumin, a natural component that is isolated from the rhizome of Curcuma longa plants, has attracted great interest among many scientists studying solid cancers over the last half century. Interestingly, curcumin provides an ideal alternative to current therapies because of its relatively safe profile, even at high doses. To date, curcumin's potent antifungal activity against different strains of Candida, Cryptococcus, Aspergillus, Trichosporon and Paracoccidioides have been reported, indicating that curcumin anticancer drugs may also possess an antifungal role, helping cancer patients to resist invasive fungal infection related complications. The aim of this review is to discuss curcumin's dual pharmacological activities regarding its applications as a natural anticancer and antifungal agent. These dual pharmacological activities are expected to lead to clinical trials and to improve infection survival among cancer patients."
The study
went on to explain that conventional therapies often result in
collateral damage to the patient's immune system, which contributes to
fungal overgrowth. Also, conventional drugs for fungal infections can
cause serious harm to the liver and kidneys of patients, along with
leading to the development of even more aggressive, treatment-resistant
fungal infections.
Moreover, conventional cancer
treatments only target one aspect of cancer, focusing on a single
pathway or molecule on a cancer cell. This is why curcumin holds so much
more promise as a "next generation multipurpose drug." Not only does it
combat fungal infections, but it has the ability to address a multitude
of cancer targets, including being able to destroy the cancer stem cell subpopulation which is at the root of cancer malignancy and recurrence.
The study concluded:
Truly, curcumin is fast becoming the most extensively researched and most promising herb for disease prevention and treatment known, with at least 750 studied potential therapeutic applications. GreenmedinfoCurcumin is an up-and-coming drug of natural origin with multi-target properties, and it has exhibited efficient anticancer and antifungal activities alone or in combination with conventional chemotherapy drugs and antifungal agents. The dual pharmacological activities of curcumin may make it a good candidate for the prevention and treatment of cancer and its cancer-related invasive fungal infection related complications. Further investigation is necessary to clarify curcumin's anticancer and antifungal mechanisms for better understanding. In spite of the useful biological activities of curcumin, its poor water solubility and low bioavailability hinders its clinical applications. Various nano-sized curcumin delivery systems, such as nanoparticles, nanospheres, solid lipid nanoparticles, micelles, and liposomes have been shown to overcome these shortcomings and significantly improve the anticancer and antifungal activities of curcumin. Many studies on curcumin and its nanoformulations are still in the preclinical stage at present. A clinical trials stage is necessary to unlock the potential of curcumin nanoformulations as a therapeutic strategy for treating cancer and its IFI complications."
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